AWWA ACE61881

Most utilities replace legacy programs, such as customer billing systems, in a piecemeal fashion. The City of Tacoma took a different path with the implementation of SAP R/3 and MDSI Advantex r7 software in October 2003. This implementation represented the culmination of 16 months worth of work by City of Tacoma employees and TUI Consulting. SAP, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool, was selected to replace Tacoma's legacy computer systems including the customer billing system, finance, human resources, work management and warehousing. This integrated software was configured to meet the needs of all City of Tacoma departments, including Tacoma Water. MDSI software was implemented along with SAP to meet Tacoma's mobile dispatching requirements. Tacoma is also able to benefit from the SAP Business Warehouse that provides additional report production capability. This slide presentation outlines the pre and post implementation approach, including the benefits and challenges of a comprehensive solution and how to achieve manager and employee buy in.